Estrada outpoints Gonzales

Photo: Emily Harney

In his continuing effort to get back into the mix in the American heavyweight scene, 2008 U.S. Olympian Jason “Big Six” Estrada (19-4, 5 KOs) won a workmanlike eight-round decision over cagey southpaw Alex Gonzales (20-7, 10 KOs) in the main event on Friday night’s “Takeover” card, presented by Big Six Entertainment, at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. The quick-handed Estrada consistently beat Gonzales, a former world title challenger and 1992 Puerto Rican Olympian, to the punch. Estrada won all eight rounds on each of the three judges’ scorecards by scores of 80-72.

“I thought it was a good performance,” Estrada said after the fight. “The dude can take a shot. Once I realized that he wouldn’t go, I boxed his head off. I hurt my thumb a little in the second round, so I boxed and used my jab.

“Next? If (Tony) Grano wants to fight, let’s go. I’ve been trying to get him in the ring for a long time.”

The comeback of former USBA and NABO middleweight champion Brian “The Bull” Barbosa (31-6, 23 KOs), now fighting out of Providence, continued on a high note in the co-feature. Barbosa decked light heavyweight John “Rusty” Johnson (13-3, 11 KOs) twice en route his fifth-round TKO victory.

The long awaited pro debut of junior lightweight Toka Khan-Clary was a monumental success. Liberian-native Kahn-Clary, fighting out of Pawtucket (RI), dropped a game Jonathan Caban with a body shot in the opening round. The young southpaw dropped Caban again in the second and pounded the New Yorker until the referee halted the action later in the same round.